Olivier Dubois, hostage in Mali for 547 days, 78 weeks, eighteen months: never for more than thirty years, a French journalist had known such a long captivity. Forty French-language media editors call on the French authorities to “strengthen their efforts to obtain as soon as possible” the release of the journalist, in a forum in ReleaseSaturday, October 8.
>> Olivier Dubois detained for 547 days in Mali: his sister calls on the government to “react”
“This Saturday, October 8, 2022, it has been exactly eighteen months since Olivier Dubois was taken hostage in northern Mali”, recalls the text, initiated by the daily Release and the NGO Reporters Without Borders. “Today we renew our appeal to the French authorities to intensify their efforts,” urge the signatories, editors of the different families of information: national and regional daily press, magazines, television, radio stations, online information sites, press agencies.
We call on journalists and the public to keep talking about Olivier Dubois, so that no one forgets him. #FreeOlivierDubois
The management of many French media sign this appeal initiated by @libe and @RSF_inter. Full text: https://t.co/YdD5TJ5CoI pic.twitter.com/18CFeQcnP5
— Liberation (@libe) October 8, 2022
“It’s extremely difficult and emotionally exhausting, explains Marc De Boni, journalist, close friend of Olivier Dubois, and president of his support committee. I’m obviously talking about his family, for whom it’s a daily torture that has no end, and we see this hourglass filling up. There is the alignment of the planets, geopolitics. And on that, we don’t necessarily have a hold.”
His last proof of life dates from March. A video where Olivier Dubois reassures about his state of health. Since then, the French army has withdrawn from Mali, driven out by the new junta in power. Arnaud Froger, head of the Reporters Without Borders investigation office. “The more time passes, the more we are able to be worried. It’s normal. The local context is not extremely favorable. It is important that Olivier be released as soon as possible in view of this context. It must increase tenfold, we hope, the motivation of the authorities to work for his release.
The authorities remain silent on the progress of the file. The relatives of Olivier Dubois, they try again and again to send him this message: we are fighting and we are waiting for you.
How can everyone be better informed?
Participate in the consultation initiated as part of the European project De facto on the Make.org platform. Franceinfo is the partner